Difficult people are unavoidable. Drawing from Mark 11, we look at how Jesus handled those who came to trap and provoke him, and what his approach teaches us about staying grounded when someone is determined to make life hard.
01How to Deal With Difficult People (According to Jesus)
Everyone has dealt with difficult people. The colleague who asks questions they do not actually want answers to. The family member who has already made up their mind before the conversation starts. The person on social media who is not interested in debate — just in proving you wrong.
Matt Edmundson opened this talk from Mark chapter 11 with a question that most people would instantly recognise: "How do you deal with difficult people? I mean, this is a great question, isn't it? Because let's face it, we've all had to deal with difficult people at some point. Maybe, just maybe, we've been a difficult person."
The good news, he suggested, is that Jesus had exactly the same problem. And the way he handled it offers some genuinely practical wisdom.
02The Setup
The passage comes from Mark 11:27-33. Jesus was walking through the temple when the chief priests, scribes, and elders — collectively known as the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body — approached him with a pointed question: "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?"
On the surface, it sounds like a reasonable question. Underneath, it was anything but.
Matt gave some context. These leaders had already decided they did not like Jesus. He had recently overturned the money-changers' tables in the temple, disrupting a system that was robbing poor people and almost certainly lining the pockets of the religious leadership. They were furious, and they came with a single objective: to intimidate and trap him.
"They ask the question, but they clearly don't care about the answer to the question," Matt observed. "And this is a sure sign you are dealing with a difficult person."
03Tip One — Have a Strong Sense of Identity
The first thing Matt drew out was the confidence in Jesus's response. Rather than being rattled or defensive, Jesus was completely secure in who he was.
"You can hear the confidence in Jesus's voice, can't you? You kind of get the sense that he knows exactly who he is and where his authority comes from. Difficult people struggle when the person in front of them is confident in who they are. People with a strong sense of identity are hard to control."
This is not about arrogance. It is about knowing where your value comes from. When your security is not dependent on what other people think of you, the power dynamics shift. The accusations and loaded questions lose their sting because they cannot reach the foundation of who you are.
Matt flagged this as the most important principle of the lot: "When we come to Christ, our identity shifts to him, and our identity is found in him. And it is so powerful when we understand this."
04Tip Two — Ask Questions Instead of Making Statements
Here is where Jesus's approach gets tactically brilliant. Rather than answering the Sanhedrin's question directly, he asked one of his own: "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me."
Matt explained why this matters. "If Jesus makes a statement, then it becomes about who can shout the loudest to make their point." A statement creates polarisation. A question opens up a conversation.
He used a contemporary example. "Are you going to vote for Trump or Biden? Now, I could say Trump or I could say Biden. Depending on who is stood in front of me, this could ignite sparks and fires of massive proportions. But instead, maybe I turn around and say, well, that's a great question. Let me ask — what policies do you think are most important at this moment for our country? Now I have started a conversation."
The principle applies far beyond politics. In any heated exchange, the person making statements tends to create division, while the person asking genuine questions tends to create dialogue.
05Tip Three — Seek First to Understand
Matt had recently spoken with a behavioural psychologist about the growing polarisation in Western culture. The psychologist introduced the concept of confirmation bias — the tendency to seek out information that confirms what we already believe and ignore everything else.
"Difficult people become difficult when I don't agree with them, as they have a confirmation bias," Matt explained. "If I agree with them, everything is okay, as I am confirming what they think."
The antidote, borrowed from Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is to seek first to understand. Rather than trying to win the argument, try to see things from the other person's perspective.
James, the brother of Jesus, put it this way: "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger."
"This is something the world really needs right now, isn't it?" Matt reflected. "People who are willing to put aside their desire to shout and win an argument, to prove that the other person is wrong, stupid, and ignorant... we just need to understand them and engage in debate."
06Tip Four — Get Them Thinking
Jesus's question to the Sanhedrin was not a deflection. It was strategic. He asked whether John the Baptist's authority came from heaven or from human origin, and the text says "they discussed it with one another."
They were no longer shouting. They were thinking.
"Notice that they are not shouting, right? They can't, because this conversation is not going the way that they thought it would," Matt pointed out. Jesus's question forced them to consider the implications of their own answer.
If they said John's baptism was from heaven, they would have to explain why they did not believe John's message — which included declaring that Jesus was the Messiah. If they said it was from human origin, they risked the crowd turning against them, because the people widely regarded John as a prophet.
They were stuck. And their response revealed something telling.
07The Weakness of People-Pleasing
The Sanhedrin's answer was "We don't know." But that was not their actual opinion. They had a view — they believed John was not from God. They just could not say it publicly because, as the text notes, "they were afraid of the people."
Matt called this out directly: "This is, I think, weak leadership. People-pleasing. We have to seek first to understand, but that doesn't mean I should not have an opinion."
There is a difference between choosing not to share an opinion to maintain peace and being afraid to share an opinion because you want people to like you. The Sanhedrin were powerful men who, in that moment, were controlled by their fear of public opinion.
This loops back to the first principle. Without a strong sense of identity — without knowing who you are and where your authority comes from — the pressure to please people will override your ability to speak truth.
08Putting It Together
The four principles work as a system. Start with identity: know who you are, and do not let difficult people shake that foundation. When challenged, ask questions rather than making statements. Seek to understand the other person's perspective before trying to be understood yourself. And use your questions strategically to move people from shouting to thinking.
Jesus did not shout the Sanhedrin down. He did not match their aggression with his own. He did not try to win a public argument. He asked a single, well-placed question that exposed the weakness in their position and left them with nowhere to go.
"Jesus knew who he was. He knew his mission. And he knew who sent him," Matt summarised. That security gave him the freedom to engage with hostile people without being destabilised by them.
09The Uncomfortable Mirror
There is one more layer to this passage that Matt did not shy away from. The Sanhedrin were the difficult people in this story. But difficult people rarely see themselves that way.
"Maybe, just maybe, we've been a difficult person," Matt said at the start. It is worth sitting with that for a moment. Are there conversations where you have already made up your mind before the other person speaks? Are there situations where you ask questions not because you want answers, but because you want ammunition?
The principles Jesus demonstrated work in both directions. They help you navigate difficult people. And they help you avoid becoming one.
When was the last time you asked a genuine question in a disagreement — one where you were actually open to the answer?
Topics in this talk
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hi and welcome to frontline city we're an online church for those who are not sure about the christian faith but who want to know more those of you who usually join us will have been expecting my lovely husband matt he'll be with us in just a moment but we thought we'd shake it up a bit this week my name is sharon edmondson and i'm part of the team here at frontline city meeting in person is proving a little bit tricky at the moment but it's great to have you with us on facebook live for those of you who are new to this live stream let me give you some context we're part of frontline church and we're based in liverpool in the uk and we're here to inspire you that jesus is amazing and that he calls us to a life that's full of purpose and meaning so please feel at home with us now if you're watching this live you can join in the comments below the live stream say hi and let us know what you think ask your questions and debate all we ask is that you do it respectfully if you're watching the replay of the live stream you can also use the comments in the live stream as we do monitor them you can also message us on the whatsapp number shown on the screen and we especially love it when you send us your photos only share your photos if you're happy for us to show them to the rest of the world why not send us a photo of where you are now and how you're watching the stream as well as comment give us a like and if you're happy to do so why not share the live stream out too it's always great to reach out reach out to new folks around the world so let me tell you what's coming up in today's live stream matt will be on in just a moment to reply to your comments and for the usual banter he will then continue our study in the book of mark looking at the question how can we deal with difficult people we'll then play a song that will help us to reflect on god and who he is and after that it will be this week's catch-up video we should be finished around 4 50. and for those who would like to we have a meet up on zoom after the live stream we'll put the link in the comments so that you can join it'll be great to see you there if you want to join us for now over to matt hello oh there we go let's get the right camera there we go how you doing good afternoon good sunday uh it's dark it's dark outside and i'm a little bit disoriented by that because normally it's the afternoon when we do this and it's just feeling a little bit darker there how are you doing how are you getting on uh good to see you um we are trying to mix things up a little bit here so uh sharon did a great intro there we are all a bit lastminute.com today but that's okay that's okay because it's church and where there's church there's forgiveness and grace right uh and sharon talked about forgiveness last week if you need some so do bear with us okay so how are you doing let us know how you're getting on in the comments do use them do join in uh do use the whatsapp number here on the screen to send us a photo of how you're watching the service for example we have this one that's been sent uh as usual from the wonderful mr matt crew who always seems to be eating food when it's time for church i like what you're doing there matt that is genius and that pizza does look delicious not gonna lie so what's he put here hilarious camera angle yeah you could say that right you could say it is a hilarious camera angle so let me know just say hi in the comments let me know how you're getting on what you're up to uh we are gonna just be well in a few seconds we are going to get straight into today's topic but lock down two if you're in the uk lock down two is very rapidly upon us how are you getting on with that how you feeling about it some people will be uh well whatever some people be like oh no some people are going to be like whatever it is however you're feeling letters no lock down two is happening but you know what here's the cool thing it doesn't matter what situation we find ourselves in we can still trust god regardless i was walking around the park this morning thinking about um thinking about this and locked down to him and how could i encourage folks and there's this wonderful story in the bible talks about these three guys called shadrach meshach and abednego right and i mean apart from having the coolest names in the world they are living in a time where if they do not bow down and worship their king they get thrown into this massive fire right they've got this huge fiery furnace as the bible calls it and if they don't bear down and worship the king they get thrown in there and they refuse to bow down and worship the king because you know god's still god and so they get thrown into the furnace and the king looks down into the furnace and sees them kind of dancing around having a big old time they're not they're not harmed by the fire or the flame and that's not me saying go jump into a fight that's just me saying it doesn't matter what situation we find ourselves in german shadrach meshach and abednego said you know what we cannot worship you and if you throw us in there we still can't worship you right they just it just couldn't be done and it's it's like you know what if i get covered god is still god if i don't get covered god is still god if i have to go into lockdown god is still right and we can find ourselves in these different situations these different scenarios but we can trust him and his faithfulness every time these things crack off the other thing that i was going to do but uh i didn't get it done in time unfortunately was just play the james bond theme because that was a sad news this week sean connery passed away so hats off to you sean thank you for james bond uh really really enjoyed all those movies um so i i i hope you're running on the streets with jesus as we speak uh playing the james bond theme uh so how are you getting on let us know your comments uh let us know how you find in lock down two and anything else you want to put in your comments that's totally fine so um right what i'm gonna do now once i found the right button uh on my little system here here it is we are gonna jump into today's talk then sharon's going to be back to just explain to you about the worship some more on that in a little bit and then i'll be back again after that so you're going to have me sharon worship me just so you know here we go do how do you deal with difficult people i mean this is a great question isn't it because let's face it we've all had to deal with difficult people at some point maybe just maybe we've been a difficult person but you know who knows right i mean these are people who are looking to trappers who are out for themselves and will often put you down if given the chance now the good news is we are not alone in this jesus had exactly the same problem so how does he deal with them and what can we learn from him about this what can we learn about how to deal with criticism how to deal with the haters had a deal with difficult people well i'm looking forward to this one so let's jump in and read from mark chapter 11 verses 27 through 33 and they came again to jerusalem and has as he was walking in the temple the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him and said to him by what authority are you doing these things or who gave you the authority to do them and jesus said to them well i will ask you one question answer me and i will tell you by what authority i do these things so was the baptism of john from heaven or from man answer me and they discussed it with one another saying if we say from heaven he will say why then did you not believe him but shall we say from man they were afraid of the people for they held that john was really a prophet so they answered jesus we don't know and jesus said to them well neither will i tell you by what i do these things okay so let's give this some context shall we there were three groups of people described in this story we've got the chief priests we've got the scribes and we have the elders and the scriptures referring to them as a group of leaders and they're from something called the sanhedrin now the sanhedrin were the jewish governing body at the time they were kind of like the main court if you like and they sat in jerusalem and if you like these were the sort of the highest people in the land they were both political and spiritual in their governing and they at least in their own eyes were god's authority uh on the law and jesus has had run in with uh run-ins with the individual groups before right but now as a collective they've come together oh yes the big guns are out and they are doing uh with one simple clear objective and that is to emma to intimidate jesus in such a way as to trap him now they've already decided they don't like him no no they don't agree with him mainly because jesus doesn't agree with them and they want to get rid of him right so these are clearly difficult people they definitely fall in my definition right so let me give you a clear sign that you are dealing with a difficult person let's look at the question that they asked jesus in verse 28 they said to him by what are you doing these things or who gave you this authority to do them right they ask the question but they clearly don't care about the answer to the question right and this is a sure sign you are dealing with a difficult person i don't know if this has ever happened to you it happens to me a lot you get asked a but the person asking you doesn't really care about the answer they have already made up their mind uh and you have a sense maybe that they even have an ulterior motive in asking that question i think that's what's going on here right difficult people they are not open to anything and they are out to prove a point and usually at your expense so what's going on in this story right let's let's try and understand why these guys are being difficult in the first place what has stoked their fire and got them so hot under the collar well we read that actually jesus is walking through the temple when these guys came and uh interrupted jesus and asked him this question and a few weeks ago jack asked is it okay to get angry and he looked at the situation where jesus overturns the tables in this temple right and he drives people out as jesus well he's he's pretty angry about how and they've all turned something so sacred and beautiful into something that robs people especially the poor right so he runs people off now what we don't read about in the gospels is how the people making the money from the poor responded to this rebuke from jesus so i'm going to guess that they go to the sanhedrin to the leaders uh with whom i think they would have had an agreement and some kind of kickback for what they were doing and they kick off right they kick off and they complain and everyone is losing money and now it's all because of jesus right so here the power of the land stands before jesus and asks him by what authority do you do this or to put it another way maybe a more modern day vernacular who do you think you are who are you to do this to us and here's an interesting point difficult people make you feel like you are nothing right this is another one of their tricks they make you feel like you are nothing who are you to do this what makes you so special have you ever asked that question ever been asked that question maybe you've even asked yourself that question right so what i want to do is in the between sunday video i want to look at this question a bit more because one of the key things i think we need when it comes to dealing with difficult people is a strong sense of identity okay in verse 29 jesus said to them i will ask you one question authority i do these things you can hear the confidence in jesus's voice can't you you kind of get the sense that he knows exactly who he is and where his authority comes from difficult people struggle when the person in front of them is confident in who they are right people with a strong sense of identity are hard to control so do subscribe to our youtube channel and watch this week's between sunday content we put out between sunday as this idea of identity is so important and crucial for us when we come to christ our identity shifts uh to him and our identity is found in him and it is so powerful when we understand this right now jesus knew who he was he knew his mission and he knew who sent him and so how to deal with difficult people have a strong sense of identity okay and when you have a strong sense of identity when your security is not based on what others think something quite fascinating happens as we are going to see in this story right so here's my next tip how to deal with difficult people avoid statements and ask questions let's notice that doesn't answer their question with a statement no no no he actually asks another question right now this may seem like a bit of political maneuvering uh and it but it might not even seem like much on the surface but it is quite a common leadership practice at the time of jesus to do this right which leads to the question why well i have a theory about this if jesus makes a statement then it becomes about who can shout the loudest to make their point right so think about maybe what the sanhedrin chaps would do next right jesus who gives you the authority to come into our temple and overturn the tables jesus uh god sanhedrin blasphemy yes that's right uh that's what happens right when you make statements that's what happened when those those those that criticize you the haters the difficult people ask you a question they immediately shout you down they prove that you are in fact wrong a complete anatomy on and make you look foolish in front of other people they've asked you a question to trap you with the answer which is what they're trying to do here with jesus jesus sees this though and he avoids it and instead of answering with a statement he asks a question yeah i think this is pretty smart right super smart and it is a way then to deal with the haters to simply ask questions let's take a slightly hot topic at the moment are you going to vote for trump or biden on tuesday right now great we could answer this in one of two ways i could say trump or i could say biden depending on who is stood in front of me this could ignite sparks and fires of massive proportions but instead when someone says are you gonna vote trump or biden maybe i turn around and say well that's a great question let me ask what policies do you think are most important at this moment for our country now i have started a conversation right if i make a statement i cause polarization don't i now if we look at what is happening in the united states at the moment uh with the division of the country and you know what i'm not just picking on america i see this in the west generally the uk is not exempt from this at all right and there is becoming a division between what is called the west coast urban elite on the left and uh you know those sort of on the right wing who would maybe vote trump both are making more and more statements both are utterly convinced that their side is correct and both are convinced the other side are complete and utter morons and in the middle there is no debate anymore there are no questions only statements and do statements encourage debate that's a good question right or do statements stifle debate well if the u.s is anything to go by and the uk i see a lot of statements being made but very little debate and i see hatred that is growing at an unprecedented rate so i think something's got to change now this week i got to catch up with a behavioral psychologist and we got chatting about all kinds of things to do with my work right and i couldn't help but ask him about this idea right that we've just been talking about this polarization and statements and questions and he tells me something about confirmation bias right it's a good name isn't it confirmation bias is where you have an existing belief and you go and look for information that confirms that belief and you ignore all other information okay difficult people become difficult when i don't agree with them as they have a confirmation bias right think about it if if i agree with them everything is okay as i am confirming what they think so if i stood before a biden supporter or a trump supporter and said i am voting for the same party that they're voting for we're all good right because i'm confirming that they are indeed correct but if i go with the opposite party well i now have a problem because i've got my own opinion and this is where things get tricky isn't it which brings me back to my original point is why we need a strong sense of identity now the sanhedrin had a confirmation bias that jesus was indeed the problem and that they needed to stop him now they may look all kinds of magnanimous by asking jesus a question but the truth is they're expecting an answer from him that will prove their confirmation bias so they can shout out bless for me right and they do it in that voice too now i asked the psychologist how do i avoid becoming just another voice shouting uh one side down you know that the side that has the opportunity the opposite opinion to me how do i how do i not be a difficult person how do i not be this guy that just shouts people down all the time right now this leads me nicely into my next point how to deal with difficult people seek first to understand you see the psychologist's answer to my question lies in a concept that stephen covey in his book the seven habits of highly effective people called seek first to understand now rather than shout and try and get my viewpoint across the basic idea is we'll just ask some questions try and understand their viewpoint walk a mile in their shoes as the saying goes see things from their point of view now james the brother of jesus put it this way in james 1 19 he said know this my beloved brothers let every person be quick to hear slow to speak and slow to anger wow now this is something the world really needs right now isn't it people who are willing to put aside their desire to shout and win an argument to prove that the other person is wrong stupid and ignorant and so on you get my point right we just need to understand them and engage in debate and what jesus is doing with his question is trying to stop these fellows from just thinking you know one way and he's trying to get them to see things from another point of view it's trying to get them to think he doesn't shout them down which you know if you're god you can easily do right you're always right there's just there's just no way around it and but he doesn't he asks questions so what does he ask well in verse 30 he says was the baptism of john from heaven or from man answer me so what is jesus on about here right and who's his fellow john so john the baptist lived at the same time as jesus and his purpose was to preach repentance which is simply turning back to god right and to prepare the way for the messiah who i personally believe to be jesus so john's role then was to prepare the hearts of israel for the coming of jesus for the christ and it's an incredibly important role and john declared that jesus was indeed the christ and as a result the sanhedrin debate amongst themselves how to answer this question right so here's my next tip how to deal just get them thinking in verse 31 it says that they discussed it with one another saying if we say from heaven he will say why did you not believe him right now notice that they are not shouting right they can't because this conversation is not going the way that they thought it would or because jesus asks questions it opens them up to a different path now this is a problem for the sanhedrin because they can't say that john was from heaven because john declared that jesus was the christ hence they come to the conclusion that jesus is going to turn around and say well why did you not believe him then right if he's from heaven if he's from god if this baptism is from heaven why are you not believing it why we got an issue here they're trying to think like chess players right they're trying to predict the next move which is great uh in verse 32 but shall we say from man see they were afraid of the people for they all held that john really was a prophet so here they are trying to predict the next answer right they're building what we would call uh in in the business world is a very simple decision tree right if we say this then this will happen if we say that then that will happen now it is it is going to be remiss of me if i don't draw out an obvious point from this passage right and that is this the sanhedrin trap chaps traps the i'm going to start this sentence again because apparently it's not easy to say chaps clearly have an opinion on the answer to jesus's question right they think there is no way that jesus is from god right they just don't so they're gonna they're gonna go with this man right they're going with answer b man but they couldn't say it and why couldn't they say why couldn't they voice their opinion because they were afraid of the people a mic drop moment right because this is i think weak leadership people pleasing yes we have to seek first to understand but that doesn't mean i should not have an opinion and it is easy not to give my opinion because if i do i might offend someone and i usually want people to like me right and this takes me back to our first point to deal you need a strong sense of identity now let's go back to our hot topic of the moment trump or biden you know we could get involved in politics but it's often easier not to say anything right because we like to please people or we'd like to say the same things as everybody else in our crowd is saying but as with all things i think it's not just about the hot topics it's often found in very subtle ways so how often for example have you sat in a meeting at work and you have an opinion on something but you don't say anything because the rest of the room is leaning a different way you don't want to look foolish you don't want your colleagues to think think wrong of you don't you don't you want them to think well of you you want them to like you right so what do you do you keep quiet it's an interesting one isn't it so here's my next tip how to deal with find the truth and we can see here's the thing right we can keep quiet because we're people pleasing but we can also keep quiet because we are not sure of the answer you know one of the tactics of difficult people is to make a statement that sounds plausible that almost you know sounds like it could be true but it doesn't necessarily have to be true right it just doesn't and this is why asking questions is so powerful they help us uncover truth now let me just hit the pause button here to be honest i don't have all of this down right which is why i'm enjoying this teaching as much as y'all sometimes i am i appreciate the loud obnoxious one right sometimes i am the one that cares too much about what other people think and it stops me speaking up sometimes i make statements that stifle debate rather than asking questions and you know what i am good at coming up with things that may sound plausible that sound like they could be true and especially if i'm confident about those statements right it doesn't even matter if they are true i just have to say i'm confident to validate my conformational bias i just have to think that they're true right but occasionally though i am aware of who i am in christ and i get this voice in my head asking me matt what's the story here and this for me is a great question that i try and ask myself a lot what's the story so let's take an example if i may right people like richard dawkins write books and make statements like science has disproved god now i know a lot of people believe this statement because it sounds plausible right with modern science it sounds like that there there could be an element of truth here but what is the truth and what's the story do i just accept this as fact or can i start to ask now people have genuinely said to me in the past you know what matt you are a fool for believing in god everyone knows that science has disproved the bible now let me just clarify i do not think uh people asking about science uh automatically makes them difficult i just want to clear that up right i love talking to people about this kind of stuff i love it when you guys sending your questions and we engage in the conversations which you can do to the whatsapp number uh or through the website or via email right see an inquiring person is very different to a difficult person an inquiry in person might not agree with me and they may not agree with me on the topic of faith or politics or whatever it is that we're talking about but you know what we can still have a great conversation about it a difficult person is someone who is sort of closed and is actually trying to make me feel bad about myself for thinking a certain way so they may call me a fool directly or imply in some way that i'm less of a human being for thinking a certain way they try and put me down that is what i makes them difficult people now and that can be on any topic not just you know science and faith so here i am i can either keep quiet and let them walk all over me right and sometimes that may be the right thing to or perhaps what i could do is make statements back i could just turn around to the person from me and say well i think you're utterly wrong and you're a for thinking otherwise right that's not going to get me very far is it making statements back never works right there they may even get angry they may start to ridicule me especially on social media because people say stuff on social media that they would never say to someone's face have you noticed that or maybe there's a third option here maybe i can start to ask questions like wow that's an interesting idea i'd love to know more about that how has science disproved god exactly now i want to understand why the person in front of me is making that statement maybe there is something that i can actually learn here but i can also ask that question because i'm confident in my faith right i actually don't think personally that that statement is true because if it were true then i would not be able to find a single well-educated working and respected scientist that calls themselves a christian yet i read about francis colin who is the director of the human genome project it's a pretty respected position in the scientific world we'd all agree he started his career in science as an atheist a man who believed that the truth of god did not exist outside of mathematics physics or chemistry right he saw faith as something that was based purely on emotional and irrational arguments but now he is one of the 40 percent of working scientists who are believers 40 percent that is not an insignificant amount almost half the working scientists have faith and he wrote this he said i have found that there is a wonderful harmony in the complementary truths of science and faith the god of the bible is also the god of the genome god can be found in a cathedral or in the laboratory by investigating god's majestic and awesome creation science can actually be a means of worship that is what we call another mic drop moment right so science doesn't disprove god after all god is by definition supernatural he is above natural law and science can neither prove god nor disprove god but you can still find him in science you can just as you could find him in art right love it love it love it love it so this for me is good practical stuff isn't it jesus is giving us lessons here that we can use in everyday life when we have to deal with difficult people the critics and the haters have a strong sense of identity avoid statements and ask questions seek to understand by listening and uncover the truth like a reporter in respectful dialogue great there is one other thing to ask here and it ties in with jesus's question verse 30 was the baptism of john from heaven or from man now this is a question we should care about right but why why why should we care about this 2000 years later i don't even know who john the baptist is i'm not sure about this fella right so why should i care well totally here you're right so let's dig in let's ask some questions and let's find out the truth respectfully right so jesus by asking this question i think is subtly answering the question of the sanhedrin who's giving you the authority to do this and jesus's question is kind of well he's kind of asking well did god give it or did man give it in other words was jesus just a man or was he actually sent by god now if he was just a man well okay crack on as they say but was he more jesus actually claimed that he was also god well is that true and what are the implications of that statement if it is true right we know that jesus as a historical figure lived and died so the question is i guess did he die and then live and if so what does that mean so you see here we're asking questions we are looking at evidence and we are uncovering truths for ourselves and we individually have to make the decision right we have to make the decision for ourselves so if you don't know christ then i would implore you to be that reporter to kind of ask the questions uncover the story what's the story dig into it find out you might be amazed at what you discover if you do right so where's a good place to start with all of this well let me give you some options right firstly we would love it if you continue to join us on our sunday live stream as we continue to look at the life of jesus and uncover these things for ourselves right we're adding more and more content to the website so do stay connected uh with us dig into it you can also get in touch with us and ask you questions like a we had a question this week from a lady called carol who got in touch and said is he real my heart believes but my man my mind has doubts is this normal so here we are i'm having a conversation with carol asking questions and seeking and we're seeking the truth together right by all means be like carol get in touch right contact us on the whatsapp or through the website if you have and there are also a number of books that i can recommend uh last week my wife did a great job and as every time she does when she gets on camera she recommends a book so i feel like i need to recommend some books and i've enjoyed reading books like cult crate cold case christianity uh which is written by a us murder detective who set out to prove that christianity was all nonsense uh but he then started to look at evidence like a detective would it's a really fascinating book or maybe you would like something that's a bit more meaty like evidence that demands a verdict which is just an incredible book right or perhaps even the book by francis colin you know the chaps the chap chaps the chap who heads up the human genome project it's called the language of god a scientist presents evidence for belief although full disclosure i have not read that particular book yet hey listen i would love to know what your biggest takeaway is from this talk why not write your answer in the comments below or send us a message on the whatsapp number whatever it is though write it down somewhere put it in your journal and ask god what the next steps are for you what is he teaching you through this we're going to play a song now and it's one that we've played before it's called graves to gardens it's a lovely song and it talks about how we can search the whole world in different ways in riches in relationships in the way we look to try and find fulfillment but that actually our ultimate ultimate fulfillment is in if you're a christ follower use this song as a prayer to god either just in your head or if you feel able to you can sing along with it if you're not a christ follower just take this time to think about the words and to ask god to show you himself through them i searched the world but it couldn't fill me man's empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough then you came along and put me back together but every desire is now satisfied here in your love oh there's nothing better than you there's nothing better than you lord there's nothing nothing is better than you i'm not afraid to show you my weakness lord you've seen them all and you still call me forever cause the god of the mountain is the god of the valley there's not a place your mercy and grace won't find me again than you lord there's nothing oh this nothing [Applause] you turn on into dancing you give beauty for rushing you turn shame into glory you're the only one you care you turn graze into gardens you turn bones into our ears you turn seas into highways you're the only one to care you're the only one who cares there's nothing better than you lord there's nothing well that is right there is nothing lord better than you so uh love that song thanks john and grace for doing that you are legends as always so what about you guys how did you get on what did you think of today's talk what was your main takeaway is always my key question have a think about it have a ponder have a hmm moment now before we get into the catch-up video which is uh you know one of the cool things we do every week let me just mention a few things to you next week next sunday's live stream is remembrance sunday so we're going to do a remembrance service next week so do come and join us for that i am totally looking forward to that uh the between sunday videos that i mentioned um we're gonna look at this week when look at identity and between sunday is just content that we put out between sunday hence the name and we just we put it on the youtube channel which is our new youtube channel and you could subscribe to that channel uh just follow the link from the website www.frontline.city and it will take you to the channel and you can join in that conversation during the week as well it'd be great if you can do that uh we have on tuesday of course the us presidential elections now i don't know if you are going to vote one way or another i don't even know if you're in the states or out of the states but this is important and this is a critical thing so make sure if you are a believer and even if you're not a christian you know they could definitely use your prayers so let's let's just remember that god help us uh at this time and help us make the right decision if you or if anyone you know is struggling at the moment because of lockdown or for anything else uh do get in touch with us using the whatsapp number we'd love to hear from we would also love to pray for you there's anything specific you need prayer for uh do let us know and you don't have to have any qualifications for us to pray for you you don't have to be a christian or not a christian you just have to go you know what i could really do with some help in dot dot dot let me know what dot dot is and we'll be happy to pray for you all in confidence of course just get in touch with the whatsapp number or through the website uh frontline city now without further ado he says looking for his mouse pointer here it is uh let's bring on this week's catch-up video hello and welcome to this week's sunday catch up now for those of you who don't know me allow me to introduce myself my name is josh edmondson i am a second year student technically at the university of saint andrews studying theoretical physics if this is your first time on the stream allow me to just quickly explain what catch-up is so this is the segment of the stream where we get to look at videos sent in from members of the community throughout the week just to see what they've been getting up to during this time with all their crazy crazy fluctuations in lockdown restrictions and rules across the uk it's really just quite important that we keep up with what everyone is doing now in typical fashion i will kick things off this week i had my very first lab not my very first lab session but my first proper lab session which was um it was interesting because of all the restrictions that are in place we couldn't have like a couple of hundred students going into the labs at once so what they did very cleverly was they hooked up the experiment equipment to a bunch of electronic devices that allowed us to use this equipment online so we could remotely control the equipment in the labs which was really cool in in principle however there was a slight technical issue which meant that i spent an hour and a half looking at random noise because one of the servers had crashed but because i hadn't done the experiment before i didn't know that that was random noise yeah that was a fun fan afternoon but that's enough for me let's get on to the catch-up videos for this week today's extravaganza homemade fish fingers some vinegar potato edges if you would want to see your video on ketchup and we would love to have your video on catcher please please please send in like a video of something you've been up to during the week to the whatsapp number that you will have seen throughout this stream i'm sure my dad will point it out yeah it's always wonderful seeing what you guys have been getting up to so please do send in those videos thank you very much for watching i hope you've enjoyed it i hope you've learned a little bit about what other people have been getting up to that is all from me i will see you next time oh yes thanks josh thanks for the catch up videos and like josh said if you you know if during the week you remember senders a video of something that you're doing that week uh it could be we have proven it doesn't have to be like hollywood interesting blockbuster kind of quality it just has to be whatever you're up to because it's just kind of fun so do send that into the whatsapp number so josh can edit those together and bring those together that would be awesome be good to see what you're what you're up to what did you write here matt the four points lantern looks amazing yes we did that last year actually we made that last year we bought it out again this year and this year zoe also if you see some of the other catch-ups that we've done zoe's been making the signs the narnia signs and the just street signs so um it's just a shame no one really knocked on the door last night uh we have plenty of sweets left over if you need sweets letters no um so right where are we up to now one thing to mention uh we have been talking a lot occasionally i've mentioned this word crowd crowd church and um a few of you have been starting to mention it that the lingo is starting to catch on which is really really fascinating so what you're going to notice in the next few weeks that crowd church well it's going to become more and more of a thing really as we transition the name of frontline city to crowd church so just so you know if that's what you've seen and just to sort of a heads up if you've made it this far throughout the the sunday livestream you're going to see us using it more and more over the next few weeks so you've got the inside track that's what's all about uh going to try and send in my birthday video next week says matt birthday is on wednesday well happy birthday we got plenty of sweets for your birthday bro uh we've got plenty left over from halloween so happy birthday uh and do sending your birthday video i hope you're gonna have a great day do something special as much as you can i suppose it's the day before lock down two begins isn't it um i hope you have a good day so i think that is about it the only thing left for me to tell you is uh if you would like to you're more than welcome to come join us on zoom after this live stream has ended uh at about five o'clock uh what time is it now it's about to five so in about ten minutes time we will open up zoom so you can come go grab yourself a cup of tea make yourself a peanut butter sandwich or whatever it is you like to do add banana in there as well super tasty um and come join us uh just for a quick catch up uh we say hi to one another and just pray and see what happens so you're more than welcome to come join in if you would like to uh be great to see you great to meet you if we've never met you before i think that is everything for me so let me put in the comments here uh the zoom link once more so there you go it should be on the uh comments i'm just gonna put that in so like i said do come join us into zoom thank you for joining us on this week's live stream thank you for all your comments i've enjoyed the conversation this week it's been great uh it's been fun so thank you so much for doing that been great to connect with do come and join us like i said uh for next week's remembrance sunday service really important day of the calendar so looking forward to that one as we take time to remember some amazing people so do come join us for that thanks everyone for joining us thanks so much for watching and we will see you next week bye for now
